Grandpa Cyril
by Erin T. Aardvark
Summary: Cyril adjusts to having a grandchild
1. It's Time

Grandpa Cyril

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the obvious follow up to "Indecent Proposal." This one also may not be as funny as the first one, but I digress. It's a very interesting idea.

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It had been three months since Cedric Sneer had married his girlfriend, Sophia Tutu (who was now going by Sophia Sneer). It was also one month after Cedric and Sophia had dropped a huge surprise on Cedric's father, Cyril Sneer. Sophia was going to have a baby. Cyril was shocked to hear it, but Cedric wasn't sure if he was happy or unhappy about it.

Truth be known, Cyril had mixed feelings about Sophia's pregnancy. On the one hand, he thought that having a grandchild might improve his image, and maybe he could make some money with this. On the other hand, he thought that having a grandchild would make him appear old, and people might start to think that he should retire.

Either way, Cyril didn't quite know how to handle the news. All he did know was that he had to put up with Sophia trying to turn one of the rooms in the Sneer mansion into a nursery. And that alone drove him a little crazy.

"Cedric, does she always have to run around this house the way she does?" he asked one day.

"She's just excited about the baby, Pop," Cedric said with a shrug. "Aren't you?"

"Eeehhh," Cyril said. "You've seen one baby, you've seen 'em all."

And with that, Cyril walked into his office to get some work done.

A couple of days later, Cedric was hanging out with Bert at the Raccoondominum, and the two of them were tossing around a baseball.

"So, have you and Sophia decided on what to call this kid?" Bert asked.

"We haven't really talked about it much," Cedric said.

"So you haven't decided?"

"Not yet."

"Good. Then I think you should name him Bert!"

Cedric immediately dropped the baseball upon hearing _that_. He gave his ring-tailed friend an odd look.

"I don't know . . . . ." he said.

"What do you mean?" Bert asked.

"Well, for one thing, what if the baby's a girl?"

"Simple. Name it Alberta!"

Cedric thought that one over. Alberta Sneer. That name sounded like something his great-great grandmother would have been named. But he didn't say so.

"We'll just have to wait and see," Cedric shrugged.

Bert nodded, and he and Cedric continued to throw around the baseball.

As the months went by. Cyril was doing all he could to avoid Sophia, but most of the time, it usually didn't work. Especially when the two of them ended up in the kitchen of the mansion at around the same time in the morning.

"Is it just me, or are you putting on a little weight there?" he would always ask, every morning.

"Very funny," Sophia always responded. Then she would just sit down at the table and eat whatever snack she was craving.

One day, Cyril found Sophia laying on the couch by the stereo. She was reading a book, and had a pair of headphones on her stomach. Cyril gave her an odd look.

"I knew you were a bit short on brains, Sofa Girl," he said to her. "But this! Really, I think you mis-aimed when you put those headphones on!"

"Actually, the baby's listening to music, Mr. Sneer," Sophia said. That's what she decided to call her father-in-law. She didn't have the nerve to call him "Cyril," and she had even less nerve to call him "Pop" like Cedric did!

"How can it listen to music?" Cyril asked. "I'm gonna have to tell Cedric you're one brick shy of a full load."

"I've read that babies can hear things even before they're born," Sophia replied.

"I don't understand any of it. If you ask me, it's just plain ridiculous."

Cyril left after that. Sophia shrugged, and went back to her book.

A few days after the headphone incident, Cedric and Sophia were over at the Raccoondominum. Melissa had planned a baby shower for Sophia. She was holding it at the Raccoondominium, because she was afraid to hold it at the Sneer mansion, because of Cyril's dog, Snag. She was worried Snag might try to bite off a leg of one of the Raccoons, or something along those lines.

"So did you think anymore about naming the baby Bert yet?" Bert asked.

"Bert, don't push them," Ralph said.

"Okay, okay," Bert said. "But once this kid is born, I'm gonna teach it all the basics! Baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer . . . . ."

"We appreciate the offer, Bert," Sophia said. "But can you at least wait until the baby's learned to walk?"

"Oh sure," Bert said, feeling slightly insulted. "If you want to do it the _easy_ way!"

Ralph rolled his eyes as if to say "oh brother." In any case, Bert seemed to forget the whole thing. He left the room for a moment, and then came back carrying a hockey stick.

"What's that for, Bert?" Cedric asked.

"I bought it for the baby, of course!" Bert shouted. "I'm gonna turn him into the Evergreen Forest's greatest hockey champion! He'll be the next Wayne Grizzly!"

Cedric and Sophia glanced at each other, and then gave Bert a weird look. Ralph rolled his eyes again.

"Never mind Bert," he said. "He's just excited."

"I'd say he's almost excited about the baby as I am," Sophia said. "Actually, I wouldn't mind if the baby's the next Wayne Grizzly, as long as he, or she for that matter, learns to walk before he or she plays hockey."

"I'll have you know I was playing hockey even before I was born!" Bert shouted.

"I feel sorry for your mother if that was the case," Melissa said. "Having a baby in her stomach doing slap shots, backhands, checks, and all sorts of things dealing with hockey. Must have been a very painful pregnancy."

Bert threw Melissa a dirty look for that one. Everyone else laughed over that one. After awhile, Cedric and Sophia went back to the Sneer mansion. To their surprise, Cyril was waiting for them.

"I'm glad you're back," he said. "I have something for you two."

"What's that, Pop?" Cedric asked.

"Oh nut much," Cyril said. "Just a useful book for the baby, that's all."

Cyril handed the book to Sophia, and she looked over the title.

"How to Succeed in Business Without Playing Fair," she said.

"That book helped me succeed in business," Cyril said.

"Yeah, and all without playing fair, too," Sophia muttered under her breath.

"I heard that, Sofa Girl!" Cyril shouted. "And I'll have you know that you don't have to play fair when you want to be rolling in the mega bucks! In any case, Cedric has been learning the business to take over for me, and now this baby will, too. The Sneer name lives on, and so does the business!"

Sophia and Cedric just looked at each other, and said nothing. Cedric was used to this from Cyril. He was on one of his power trips.

A few more weeks went by. It seemed like a normal, run of the mill summer night. At least normal until three fifteen in the morning. Sophia had awakened from a pretty restless sleep that night. She took a deep breath, and then proceeded to shake Cedric's shoulder.

"Cedric?" she asked. "Cedric, wake up! It's time!"

"Time?" Cedric asked, half asleep. "What time? It can't be time to get up yet. It's still dark outside."

"No, Cedric!" Sophia shouted. "I'm going to have the baby!"


	2. Forest Sneer

Cedric jolted to attention upon hearing _that_! He shot out of bed, and grabbed his glasses.

"What? Now?" he asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Sophia shouted.

Cedric began to panic just then. He had no idea what in the world he was going to do now.

"Well . . . . uhh, what do we do?" he asked.

"My guess is we go to the hospital," Sophia said.

"Right! Right!" Cedric shouted. If he wasn't so nervous, he would have probably figured it out.

Sophia grabbed an already packed suitcase (she'd been packed for weeks, for just such an emergency), and she and Cedric started down the stairs and out of the mansion. Unfortunately, Cedric was so panicked, he wasn't paying attention to where he was going, so he didn't see Cyril's dog, Snag, sleeping on the stairs. Cedric tripped over him, and they both started crashing down the stairs.

"YIPE!" Snag yipped when Cedric hit him.

"Whoa!" Cedric shouted, as he tripped.

Cedric and Snag fell down the stairs and landed with a loud CRASH! All the commotion woke Cyril up from a sound sleep, and he wasn't too happy.

"What's going on out here?!" he shouted.

"Cedric, are you all right?" Sophia asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Cedric said. He rummaged around for his glasses, which had fallen off during the trip downstairs.

"I'll ask it again," Cyril said, becoming a little impatient. "WHAT'S GOING ON OUT HERE?!"

"Sophia's going to have the baby, Pop," Cedric said.

"Oh is _that_ all," Cyril replied. "Well, if that's the case, then I won't keep you."

Sophia wondered how in the world Cyril could stay calm in a situation like this, and Cedric was a wreck. In any case, Sophia went downstairs as carefully as she could. She didn't want to trip and fall herself. Cyril followed, just to see what was going to happen.

Cedric fumbled around with the car keys for awhile. His hands were shaking, and he was sweating.

"Cedric, are you sure you can handle this?" Sophia asked.

"Sure I'm sure," Cedric replied. "No problem!"

Cedric continued fiddling with his keys, until he dropped them. Nervously, he picked them back up, and dropped them again.

"I think I'd better drive," Cyril said, taking the keys from Cedric. "Come on, let's get this show on the road."

That was all there was to it. Cyril took over, much to Sophia's surprise. They made it to the hospital in under a few minutes. Once there, they were directed to the maternity ward. Cedric had to fill out some paper work. Of course, he was so nervous about it, he could barely hold the pen!

"I'll do that, Cedric," Cyril said, taking the clipboard from his son. "The way you're hand's shaking, they won't be able to read it!"

"Thanks, Pop," Cedric said. Then he went to the nearest pay phone to make a few phone calls.

The first call was to the Raccoondominium. Bert wasn't to happy about being woken up at around three in the morning.

"Who is this?" he asked, somewhat sleepily.

"It's me, Bert," Cedric said.

"Cedric? What are you calling at three in the morning for?"

"I'm calling from the hospital. Sophia's about to have the baby."

"What?! Right now?! I'll be right there!"

Bert promptly hung up the phone, and ran to wake up Ralph and Melissa.

"Ralph! Melissa! Come on! We've got a situation here!" Bert shouted.

"If you're waking us up to tell us we're out of peanut butter, go back to bed," Ralph said. "We'll pick some up tomorrow morning."

"Hey, this is bigger than peanut butter!" Bert shouted.

"Bigger than peanut butter?" Melissa repeated, not sure if she heard right.

"Bert, to you, _nothing_ is bigger than peanut butter," Ralph replied.

"Not even Sophia having her baby this very minute?"

That did it. Ralph and Melissa shot to attention, and began racing around. Ralph began a mad search for his camera. They dashed out the door of the Raccoondominium and headed for the hospital. When the Raccoons arrived at the maternity ward, they found Cedric pacing back and forth like crazy, and Cyril just sitting there, leafing through some business magazine or another.

"What happened, did we miss anything?" Melissa asked.

"Did she have the baby yet?" Bert asked.

"Not yet," Cedric said. "I don't know how long it's going to take."

"It won't be for awhile," Cyril said, not bothering to look up from the magazine he was reading. "We could be in for a long wait."

"How do _you_ know?" Bert asked, in a sort of challenging tone of voice.

Cyril looked up from his magazine and glared at Bert. Bert realized that Cyril definitely _would_ know about this subject. He blushed, cleared his throat, and walked over to Cedric.

"I'll just, uhh, help you worry, Cedric," he said, and he began pacing around the waiting room.

Three hours went by, and there was still nothing to report. Cedric just started to pace faster and faster, and so was Bert. At one point, Cedric changed directions in pacing, and he and Bert bumped into each other without even paying attention to what they were doing. Both of them ended up on the floor.

"Sorry about that, Bert," Cedric said.

"No problem," Bert said.

Both of them got up, and continued to pace.

"I can understand Cedric pacing," Melissa said. "But why are you so nervous, Bert?"

"Sympathy nerves," Bert replied. "Besides, Cedric's nerves are making my nerves nervous!"

Another three hours passed. Ralph and Melissa had fallen asleep. Cedric kept pacing. Bert was sitting on the floor, making a cat's cradle out of a piece of string that had been hanging off his sweater. Cyril was going through the business section of the newspaper.

"Any news yet?" Bert asked.

"Has the nurse or doctor come out yet?" Cyril asked.

"No."

"Then shaddup!"

Bert threw Cyril a dirty look, and continued to play with his cat's cradle. Cyril looked up from the newspaper and watched Cedric for about two minutes.

"Cedric, you've been pacing for six hours," he said. "Sit down, and relax!"

"I guess maybe you're right, Pop," Cedric said, sitting down. He took off his glasses, and started to clean them. "Were you this nervous when I was born?"

"Slightly less so," Cyril admitted, going back to the newspaper.

Cedric nodded. But, unfortunately, he couldn't sit still. He began fidgeting, and then twiddling his thumbs. Then he got back up and began pacing all over again.

Cyril had been making notes about how long it was taking. By the tenth hour, there still wasn't any news. Bert had fallen asleep right on the floor, and now Melissa was pacing along with Cedric. Ralph was checking the clock on the wall every two or three seconds.

"How long have we been here?" Melissa asked.

"Since three thirty in the morning," Cyril said, checking his notes.

"And what time is it now?"

"One fifteen. We've been here for almost ten hours."

"What could be taking so long?" Cedric asked, nervously.

"Cedric, you took sixteen hours before you came out," Cyril said. "Trust me, this is normal."

"I guess he would know," Melissa said with a shrug. She walked over to Bert, and nudged him. "Wake up, Bert."

"Awww, five more minutes, Mom," Bert answered, sleepily.

"Maybe we should all just go back home and come back later," Ralph replied.

"I'm staying here," Cedric said.

"I might as well stay too," Cyril said. "Try and keep Cedric from exploding with anticipation."

"You're very calm about this, Cyril," Ralph said. "I'd think you'd be a nervous wreck yourself."

"Hey, someone's gotta keep their head around here," Cyril said with a shrug, and he went back to his paper.

Ralph nodded. He, Melissa, and Bert ended up staying. A few more hours went by. Cyril had fallen asleep in the middle of re-reading the business section of the newspaper. Bert and Ralph were playing a game of Tic Tac Toe, to keep their minds off things. Melissa was leafing through a magazine, not really paying attention to it. And Cedric was (you guessed it!) still pacing back and forth the waiting room nervously.

Finally, at five twenty-six that evening, a nurse came out of the delivery room.

"Mr. Cedric Sneer?" she said.

"Yes?" Cedric asked, practically racing over. The Raccoons followed, waiting for the news, nervously.

"Congratulations, Mr. Sneer," the nurse said, smiling. "It's a boy."

"It is?" Cedric asked, like he couldn't believe it. "It's here? I mean, he's here?"

"That's right," the nurse said.

"Hey, all right, Cedric!" Bert shouted, giving Cedric a thump in the shoulder.

"Congratulations, Cedric!" Melissa shouted.

Cedric felt a little faint, but relieved at the same time. After thirteen and a half hours, he was now a father. The Raccoons were all talking at once about it. Cyril woke up from his little nap, wondering what all the commotion was about.

"What's going on?" he asked. "What happened?"

"He's here, Pop," Cedric said.

"Who?" Cyril asked, slightly disoriented.

"The baby! It's a boy!"

"Oh."

Cedric wasn't sure what to make of his father's lack of enthusiasm, but he didn't care. The nurse led him, Cyril, and the Raccoons to the nursery window. Cyril, who was still half asleep, was looking around inside the nursery at all the babies in there.

"So which one is he?" he asked.

"The one with the long nose," Bert said, a little annoyed.

"Oh yeah," Cyril said. "I knew that."

"I think your brain could use a jump start."

Cyril ignored Bert's remark after that. The nurse wheeled over the baby aardvark. He was fast asleep when they all saw him.

"There's a definite resemblance to his dad," Ralph said.

"Yeah, a chip off the ol' block," Bert said.

"He looks exactly like you, Cedric," Melissa agreed.

Cedric didn't answer. He couldn't. He was just so overwhelmed that he fainted right there in front of the window.

WHAM!

The others looked down at him, not knowing what to do or say.

"Well," Bert said, finally. "At least we're in a hospital."

Everyone else groaned and rolled their eyes.

Cedric came to his senses a few minutes later, and the nurse led him to Sophia's room. She was exhausted.

"Hi, Sophia," Cedric said. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Sophia admitted. "But it's now all over."

"Yeah. So, what do you want to name him?"

"Well, I thought about this for awhile. I thought maybe we could name him Forest."

"Forest Sneer. I like the sound of that."

The nurse returned to the room, with the baby. She gave him to Sophia, and she and Cedric looked over him.

"Yeah," Cedric said. "He looks like a Forest to me."

"Welcome to the world," Sophia said to her baby. "Forest Sneer."


	3. Homeward Bound

Over the next few days, Sophia and Forest had to stay in the hospital. Cedric was over there a lot during the day. The Raccoons came by to visit every now and again, as did Schafer. Cyril didn't bother to visit. Not that it surprised, Sophia. It didn't. Cedric always told her that Cyril had a lot of work to do.

"The work of a big business man is never done," Cedric said with a shrug.

"I know," Sophia replied. "But this is his grandson. Just look at that little face! Who can resist that?"

In response, Forest yawned, and opened his eyes. He looked around the room, taking it all in. Sophia giggled, and began to nuzzle her baby.

"Isn't he just a darling?" she asked.

Cedric had a pretty good feeling that Sophia would be doting over Forest for quite some time.

A few days later, Sophia was released from the hospital, and allowed to take Forest home. Ralph and Melissa were there, taking pictures of the baby. Sophia was nuzzling Forest as Cedric pushed her towards the door in a wheelchair. Cyril finally came to the hospital, to see what all the fuss was about over this kid.

"So this is my grandson, eh?" Cyril asked, taking Forest from Sophia. "Well . . . . . at least he doesn't look like Sofa Girl, that's all I've got to say."

Sophia glared at Cyril, but said nothing. Forest looked at his grandfather intently, as if he were sizing him up.

"This might be an interesting photo for the Evergreen Standard," Ralph said. "The Evergreen Forest's biggest tycoon and grandson."

"Well, when you put it that way . . . ." Cyril said. He never neglected a chance to have his picture in the local paper. He felt a little publicity never hurt anyone.

"Smile!" Melissa shouted as she held up the camera.

But right before Melissa could snap a picture, Forest grabbed onto Cyril's nose, and pulled it as hard as he could.

"Nnnyaaahhh!" Cyril shouted, just as Melissa hit the button on the camera.

"Ummm," Melissa said, a little hesitantly. "Not exactly the image I was going for."

"Get this brat off my nose!" Cyril demanded.

"Hold on, Pop!" Cedric shouted, and he pried his son off Cyril's nose. Then he handed the baby back to Sophia.

"Oh Forest!" Sophia shouted. "No, no, no, sweetie. That's not nice. Sorry about that, Mr. Sneer."

"Harumph!" Cyril shouted, as he tried to straighten out his nose. Then he turned towards Melissa. "And as for you, missy, I'd better not see that photo on the front page of the paper!"

And with that, Cyril stormed towards the door.

"Cedric!" he shouted. "Let's get a move on!"

"We'll see you guys later," Cedric said, as he pushed Sophia's wheelchair out to Cyril's car.

Ralph and Melissa looked at each other, and waited until Cyril was out of sight, and earshot. Then they began laughing hysterically over what just happened.

It wasn't an easy ride home from the hospital. Forest kept trying to reach over and grab Cyril's nose. He thought it was a fun game. Sophia tried to keep him under control.

"No, no, sweetie," she kept saying.

"Like _that's_ doing any good," Cyril grumbled.

When they got home, Forest immediately made a reach for Cyril, but Cyril would have nothing to do with him.

"Aw, come on, Pop," Cedric said.

"I am not going anywhere near this kid," Cyril said. "I don't want him in the house either!"

"But Mr. Sneer," Sophia started to protest.

"I've heard enough!" Cyril shouted. "If you insist on this baby, then you have to move out!"

"But Pop! We don't have the money for our own place yet," Cedric said.

"You should have thought of that before you got married!" Cyril shouted.

Sophia could tell this was going to be a heated argument, so she put Forest into the baby carrier, and led Cedric and Cyril into the kitchen to discuss this. Most of the argument was Cyril yelling about how Cedric and Sophia should take Forest and move out, and Cedric and Sophia kept saying that they couldn't.

As they were arguing about it, Forest was sitting patiently in the carrier, waiting for either his mom, dad, or grandfather to come out and get him. As he was waiting, who should come along but Snag? He saw the little stranger in the carrier, and walked over to investigate. Snag didn't like intruders in his master's house, and could easily tear off someone's leg. In this case, Snag was very much capable of devouring a baby!

Snag growled at Forest, about ready to chew him to bits. Forest just gurgled, smiled, and patted Snag on the head. Snag was slightly taken aback. He backed up for a moment or so, trying to get his bearings. Then he growled again, more ferociously than before. Forest reached out, and began rubbing Snag behind the ears. That was it. Snag whimpered contently. Forest had found Snag's sweet spot, something Cyril probably never would have done.

And right at that very moment, Cyril was making another point about why Sophia and Cedric had to take Forest and move out.

"What about Snag?" he asked. "You know how vicious he is! I'm surprised he hasn't tried to take your leg off, Sofa Girl!"

"I hadn't thought about Snag," Cedric admitted. "Pop might have a point there. I know Snag, and he's likely to . . . ."

Cedric was interrupted by a bark, and a loud squeal.

"My baby!" Sophia shouted, and she raced out of the kitchen and into the other room. Cedric and Cyril followed after her to see what exactly was going on.

"What in blazes!" Cyril shouted.

There Snag was, laying on his back, as Forest was rubbing his stomach. Snag's hind foot was twitching like crazy, and it looked like he was in doggie heaven.

"I don't believe it!" Cedric shouted. He took off his glasses for a minute, and began to inspect them, to see if they needed cleaning.

"Snag, you traitor!" Cyril yelled.

"Well, looks like we don't have to worry about Snag," Cedric said.

Sophia nodded, and took Forest out of the carrier. Forest immediately saw Cyril, and reached for him, gurgling. Cyril just looked at his grandson, and walked away in the other direction. Forest stopped gurgling when he saw that his grandfather was leaving, and then he let out a wail.

"Oh Forest!" Sophia shouted. She began rubbing her baby's back, in an attempt to get him to stop crying.

Sophia began walking around the room, trying to calm Forest down, but it wasn't working. Cedric took him from her for a minute to see if he could get Forest to stop crying. It didn't work too well. Finally, Cyril stormed out of his office.

"Can't a person get any work done around here!" he shouted.

Cedric braced himself for Forest to start yelling even louder, but to his surprise, he didn't. The minute Cyril entered the room, Forest had started to calm down. He whimpered a little, and reached for Cyril.

"Pop, I think Forest wants you," Cedric said.

"I'm extremely busy!" Cyril shouted. "I don't have time for . . . ."

"Come on, Mr. Sneer, just once," Sophia pleaded.

"If you don't hold him just for a minute, he'll probably start crying again," Cedric said.

"Oh all right," Cyril groaned, and Cedric handed him the baby.

Forest gurgled happily, and immediately, began yanking on Cyril's nose, laughing.

"I knew he was going to do this!" Cyril shouted.

"Forest!" Cedric shouted, trying to pry the baby's hand off Cyril's nose. "No, no, Forest. Let go."

Forest giggled, as Cedric finally managed to pull him off Cyril. Cyril grumbled, straightened out his nose, and went back to work. Cedric sighed, and began to take the baby upstairs.

"I think it's time Forest went down for a nap," he said.

"Good idea," Sophia said. "That way, he won't bother your father while he's working."

Cedric agreed. He could definitely see a little compatibility problem between Cyril and Forest, especially if Forest kept pulling on Cyril's nose. But Forest was just a baby, and he didn't really know any better.

Cedric sighed, and put Forest into his crib.

"Well, Forest," he said. "This is home for now. I hope Pop just gets used to you soon."

Forest giggled, and began swatting at Cedric's nose. Cedric laughed.

"Goodnight, Forest," he said, as he left the room.

During the night, Cyril woke up to an unpleasant noise, indeed. It was the unmistakable shriek of an infant at two o' clock in the morning. Cyril groaned, and covered his ears.

"Here we go again," he grumbled. "I thought I was finished with this after Cedric was born!"

Sophia and Cedric had heard Forest screaming, too. Sophia climbed out of bed, and went into the nursery, to tend to her son's needs. While she was taking him down to the kitchen for his two o' clock feeding, she ran across Cyril.

"I trust this isn't going to be a habit," he said.

"I can't help it," Sophia said.

"Just feed him and get him to go back to sleep!"

Sophia went down the stairs with Forest. She prepared his bottle, sat down in a chair, and proceeded to feed her baby. She was just glad Forest was a fast eater. He practically inhaled the contents of the bottle in ten seconds flat. After he was finished, he sighed contently. Sophia then brought Forest back to the nursery and put him back to bed. Then she went back to bed herself.


	4. Kicked Out

For the first few nights, it was like that. Forest always seemed to wake up at two in the morning, shrieking his head off, and either Cedric or Sophia got up to feed him. Cyril was often awake at two in the morning as well, only because Forest had awakened him, but he would hardly ever go check on him, or volunteer with a feeding.

One day, Bert came by the Sneer mansion. He knocked on the front door and was met by Cedric, who looked like a shell of his former self.

"What happened to you?" Bert asked. "Rough night?"

"Night?" Cedric asked, stifling a yawn. "Forest thought it was daytime. He was up almost all night. But that's how babies are. They're used to the darkness, because that's how they are in utero."

"In what?"

"Never mind. So what are you doing here?"

"Well, I thought I'd come by and see if you and Forest were up for a game of baseball!"

"Forest is kind of young for baseball, don't you think? Besides, I don't think Sophia would like it if she found out."

"Come on, Cedric! It'll be fun!"

"Won't Forest get hurt if we used a regulation baseball? I think Sophia would kill us if that happened."

"Nah, I got a special ball just for him."

Bert held up the baseball he brought, and squished it in his hand.

"Come on, Cedric," he said. "If we want Forest to be on the Evergreen Forest's baseball team someday, he might as well start practicing!"

Cedric sighed, and gave in. He went upstairs to get both Forest and the car seat. Forest wasn't steady enough to sit up on his own just yet. Cedric got Forest set up, and walked over to Bert.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked.

"Of course it is!" Bert shouted. "Okay, Forest, the most important thing in baseball is to always keep your eye on the ball! Are you ready? Here it comes!"

Bert threw the ball, and it rolled on the ground into Forest's lap. Forest just looked at it, and then he looked at Bert.

"Come on, Forest!" Bert encouraged. "Throw it here! Come on, throw it to Uncle Bert! Right in the old bread basket! Right over the plate! That's the ol' pepper kid!"

Naturally, Forest had absolutely no clue what Bert was talking about. Bert sighed, and walked over to him.

"Like this, Forest," he said, and he hurled the ball to Cedric. "Okay, Cedric, throw it back so Forest can see how it's done!"

"I still think Forest is too young for baseball, Bert," Cedric said.

"Never mind! Just pitch me the ball!"

Cedric shrugged, and threw the ball to Bert. Bert then threw it back to Cedric, and the two continued to throw the ball back and forth to each other.

"See, Forest?" Bert asked. "Like that! Now, I'm gonna give you the ball, and you throw the ball to your dad, okay?"

"Bert, he doesn't know what you're saying," Cedric said.

"Of course he does! If Forest is anything like you, Cedric, then he's smart!"

Cedric sighed. Bert gave Forest the ball. But instead of throwing it, Forest picked it up, and began chewing on it.

"No, Forest, no!" Bert shouted, slightly exasperated. "You're not supposed to eat the ball! You're supposed to throw it!"

"I told you he was too young for this," Cedric replied. "He's only a few days old."

"When I was a few days old, I was already throwing fastballs, and curve balls, and spit balls!" Bert shouted.

"I believe the spit ball part," Cedric said, taking the ball from Forest, and giving it to Bert. Bert grimaced a little, as he realized that Forest had slobbered on it.

"Eeecchhh," he said. "Okay, forget about pitching. We'll work on batting now!"

"Bert," Cedric started.

But Bert wasn't listening to Cedric. He handed Forest the baseball bat he brought over which was almost as big as he was! Forest just held onto the bat, and looked at Bert. Bert threw the ball, and Forest just watched it go by. Then he giggled, and looked at Bert, expectantly, as if to say "are you gonna do that again?"

"Hey, Forest! You're supposed to hit the ball with the bat!" Bert shouted.

"Bert, he can't even _lift_ the bat," Cedric said, feeling a little exasperated himself. "Forest is just a baby, and babies can't play baseball!"

"Okay, okay," Bert said. "We'll forget baseball right now. So . . . . how about basketball?"

"Bert!"

"Hey, I was just kidding!"

Cedric sighed, and he picked up Forest's car seat. The minute he got inside, he heard some crashing going on in the front hall. He ran over and saw Cyril laying at the bottom of the stairs, and he looked ready to kill someone.

"Pop!" Cedric shouted.

"Who's bright idea was it to block off the stairway?!" Cyril shouted, standing up.

"Well, Sophia and I put out the gates so that Forest wouldn't fall down the stairs."

"And did you stop to think what would happen if someone didn't notice them and trip over them?!"

Forest began to laugh. Apparently, he liked it when his grandfather was about to blow a fuse. He thought it was funny.

"Sorry, Pop," Cedric said.

"The kid isn't even crawling yet," Cyril mumbled as he walked off. "I don't see _why_ Sofa Girl has to put up those gates when all she and Cedric ever do is carry him around all the time!"

Cedric sighed, and started going up the stairs.

"You've sure made an impression on your grandpa," he said to Forest.

A couple of months went by. Forest was now a very fast crawler, and Cedric and Sophia had their hands full keeping an eye on him. He was into everything, from Sophia's make up to Cedric's books. Forest especially liked to scribble. He would take some of Sophia's lipstick out of her bag (which she sometimes left on the floor), and then crawl into the Sneer library, and pull out a book from the bottom shelf, and just go wild.

Forest liked to hang out with Snag, too, which surprised everyone. It was only a surprise that Snag didn't try to eat Forest for lunch. In fact, Snag was sort of like a protector to Forest. Cyril would come into the room and see Forest scribbling on the walls, and look ready to strangle the baby, and Snag would come up and growl at his master, trying to take his leg off or something.

"You little twerp," Cyril growled at Forest. "You've turned my own dog against me!"

"Mr. Sneer, Forest's just a baby," Sophia said, as she was cleaning a wall Forest had scribbled on. "He doesn't know any better."

"I don't care!" Cyril shouted. "This baby is ruining my life!"

Cyril then felt something down on his foot. He looked and saw Forest sitting on his foot, hugging him around the leg, babbling in baby talk.

"What in the world is he doing?" Cyril asked.

"He just wants to spend time with his grandpa," Sophia said, shrugging.

"Well, you can just tell him that his grandpa has work to do and doesn't want to be bothered, especially by a baby! NOW GET HIM OFF OF ME!"

Sophia sighed, and walked over to Cyril. She bent down, and started to take Forest off him.

"Come to Mommy, sweetie," she said, as she pried her son away from Cyril.

Cyril then walked off. He went to his office and slammed the door. He began grumbling, as he went through some important documents he had signed and had to send out in the mail. But before he did that, he wanted to look them over first. Much to his surprise, every last page had scribbles on it. Cyril was shocked. He couldn't believe it.

"CEDDDDRIIIIIIIC!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Yeah, Pop?" Cedric asked, as he raced into the room. Sophia came in, too, and she was carrying Forest.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Cyril shouted, as he shoved one of the documents in his son's face.

"What do you mean?" Cedric asked.

"That . . . . that baby of yours came in here and ruined all these contracts!" Cyril shouted.

"Oh Forest, how could you?" Sophia asked.

"I ought to wring that baby's neck for this!" Cyril shouted.

"But Pop, Forest didn't know he was doing anything wrong," Cedric said.

"I don't care!" Cyril shouted. "This kid has cost me major money in these contracts! I want him out of this house right now!"

"But Mr. Sneer!" Sophia protested.

"This is all your fault, Sofa Girl!" Cyril yelled. "If you hadn't married my son, none of this would be happening now! I want you and that baby out of here! Start packing! And that goes for you, too, Cedric!"

"But Pop!" Cedric started.

"No buts!" Cyril yelled. "You three are out of this house by the end of the week! And if I ever see this baby again, I'll feed him to Snag!"

In just a few moments after Cyril's outburst, Cedric and Sophia began packing their things to move out.

"Where are we going to go?" Sophia asked.

"Well, we could probably stay at the Raccoondominium for awhile," Cedric said. "And then maybe I could get a job at the Evergreen Standard, and then we'll be able to afford our own place."

"Your father is just being unfair. Forest didn't know what he was scribbling on."

"But we should have been watching him. Forest is more active now than he was a few months ago."

"I guess maybe you're right. I'm going to go check on him."

Cedric nodded, and continued packing the suitcases. Sophia went into the nursery. She found Cyril's "sidekicks," the Pigs, measuring the room. Forest was sitting in his crib, crying.

"Watch your back!" Lloyd shouted.

"What are you doing?" Sophia asked, as she picked Forest up.

"Measuring the room," Floyd said. "The boss is converting it to a game room."

"He wants to see if he can fit a pool table in here," Boyd replied.

"Not even out of the house yet, and already he's got plans," Sophia muttered, as she took Forest out of the room.

On the way back to Cedric, Forest saw Cyril in the hallway. He stopped crying for a moment or so, and reached out for his grandfather, struggling to get to him. Cyril looked over at Forest, glared, and then quickened his pace down the hall. Forest whimpered, and burst into hysterical tears then.

"Forest, what's the matter, sweetie?" Sophia asked, soothingly.

"Did he just start up again?" Cedric asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," Sophia sighed. "He's been crying all day."

"Come on, Forest," Cedric said. "It's okay. We're going to go see Uncle Ralph and Aunt Melissa and Uncle Bert. That'll be fun, don't you think?"

In response, Forest just cried. Neither Cedric or Sophia could understand why he was so upset. Later that day, the three of them went to the Raccoondominium to talk to Ralph and Melissa about what had happened.

"I can't believe Cyril would do something like that!" Melissa shouted.

"Heh, I can," Bert replied. "The guy has no compassion whatsoever!"

"Maybe if we had kept a closer eye on Forest . . . ." Sophia started.

"Forest probably would have gotten into those contracts if you _had_ been watching him," Ralph said. "He's just a baby. He doesn't know what he did was wrong."

"Well, he sure seems to," Cedric said, trying in vain to get his son to stop crying. "He's just been crying ever since Pop told us we had to move out by the end of the week!"

"Doesn't he ever stop?" Bert asked.

"He'll wear himself out and go to sleep after awhile," Sophia said. "But the minute he's awake . . . ."

Sophia trailed off. There was really no point in going on. No one really knew what to do for Forest.

"Well, you're welcome here," Melissa said. "And don't worry about Forest. He'll probably calm down after awhile."

"It's probably the change that's got him so upset," Ralph said. "That and Cyril losing his temper about those contracts."

"That's probably it," Cedric replied. "But usually when Pop blows a gasket, it doesn't bother Forest."

Forest whimpered a little, and leaned against his father's shoulder, jamming his thumb into his mouth. He was starting to feel a little tired.

"I think it's time this little one had a nice, long nap," Melissa said. "We'll watch Forest while you two get your things back here."

"Thanks, Melissa," Cedric said, handing Forest to his friend.

Forest began to cry a little, but soon adjusted to Melissa's shoulder, for the time being. When he saw Cedric and Sophia walk out the door without him, he let out an ear splitting shriek, right in Melissa's ear. Melissa just started to walk around the room with him, patting him on the back, and talking gently too him.

"Hush, hush, Forest," she said. "It's all right. Your mommy and daddy will be back soon. It's all right now."

Melissa began to sing to Forest, doing his best to calm him down. Forest pushed against Melissa, continuing to scream.

"Boy, babies sure cry a lot, don't they?" Bert commented.

"I'm sure he'll calm down when Cedric and Sophia get back," Ralph said. "You know, some babies are just attached to their parents. Forest must be one of them."


	5. Bonding with Baby

For the rest of the afternoon, Cedric and Sophia kept coming in and out of the Raccoondominium with their things. Forest could barely take it. He kept looking at them, expectantly, as if they weregoing to return with something special, which they never did. And each time Cedric and Sophia left, Forest just cried.

"Poor baby," Sophia said, taking Forest from Melissa. She kissed the top of his head, and began rocking him. "You're just having an awful time, aren't you?"

"I think maybe you'd better take Forest back to Cyril's with you this time," Melissa suggested. "He cries harder when you leave him."

"Nah, let Forest stay here," Bert said. "I'll go back with Cedric and get the stuff from you guys. That way, at least Forest has his mom here with him."

"I'll go, too," Ralph said.

"Good idea," Sophia said.

Cedric and the two raccoons left. Forest began crying then, about as hard as he did when Cedric and Sophia left him with the Raccoons the first time.

"Maybe he's hungry," Melissa suggested. "I'll go get his bottle."

Sophia nodded, and continued to rock Forest back and forth. He just wouldn't stop crying. Melissa returned shortly, and handed Sophia the bottle.

"Okay, Forest," she said. "Time for your bottle."

Sophia tried to get Forest to take his bottle, but he kept turning his head, and pushing the bottle away. He didn't want it.

"Well, he's not hungry," Sophia said. "And he doesn't need to be changed, either."

"I wonder what could be wrong?" Melissa asked.

"Maybe he just misses his daddy."

"That could be it."

Sophia sighed, and just started rocking Forest again. It was about all she could do until the boys got back. Once they did, Sophia immediately handed Forest off to Cedric.

"We figured he missed you," she said.

Forest leaned against Cedric for a minute or so, and then looked over his shoulder outside. Forest whimpered a bit, and burst out crying once more when he didn't see what he was looking for.

"I have never seen anything like this," Ralph said.

"Forest has a good set of lungs, I can tell you that!" Bert said.

"I'm sorry, everybody," Cedric apologized. "I can't figure out what's wrong."

"It's not your fault, Cedric," Melissa said.

"Maybe he's just tired," Ralph said. "He did have sort of a long day today."

Sophia agreed, and took Forest from Cedric. That only got him to start crying even harder! Sophia tried to get him to go to sleep, but Forest wouldn't cooperate. He just kept crying. Sophia sighed, turned on Forest's mobile, and left the room. She hoped that the music would calm him down a little. She went into the living room, and she saw Cedric looking through a medical book.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm trying to see why Forest is crying so much," Cedric replied. "I'm starting to come to the conclusion that he might have colic."

Sophia made a face. She looked in the book Cedric was reading, and shook her head.

"No, it can't be that," she said. "It says here that colic affects babies until they're three or four months old, and Forest is five months old."

"Well, what else could it be?"

"I don't know."

Cedric closed the book and sighed. He and Sophia could still hear Forest wailing at the top of his lungs. Both of them went into the room, and tried to settle him down. For the rest of the night, Cedric, Sophia, and the three Raccoons did their best to help Forest, but none of their efforts helped. Forest just kept on crying.

For three days straight, nobody got any sleep. Forest was keeping them all awake.

"There's gotta be _some_thing we can do!" Bert shouted.

"Maybe he's teething," Melissa said with a shrug.

Sophia went downstairs to look for something for Forest to chew on. Cedric tried giving Forest his bottle again, but he still refused it.

"Come on, Forest," he said. "You've got to eat, and you've got to get some sleep!"

"So do the rest of us," Bert said, with a yawn.

After awhile, Forest finally tired himself out. His wails died down to whimpers, and he stuck his thumb in his mouth and began sucking on it. That was a sure sign he was ready to go to sleep. Cedric breathed of relief, and gently put him in his crib. Melissa turned out the light, and the group left the room as quietly as they could. Unfortunately, on the way out, Bert accidently stepped on a rattle that was laying on the floor.

_CRRRUNNCCHHH!_

That woke Forest up, and he started crying all over again. Everyone groaned.

"Sorry about that," Bert said, sheepishly.

When dawn broke, everyone was a wreck. Forest was still crying, and no one knew what to do to help him stop.

"I'm going over to Pop's," Cedric said. "I still need to pick up some things."

"Do us a favor," Bert said. "Take Forest with you."

"Maybe that'll help him a little," Melissa said.

"Maybe," Cedric said, and he lifted Forest out of his high chair. "Come on, Forest. We're going for a ride."

Forest began whimpering a little, as Cedric put him into his car seat, and got him settled into the car. Cedric pulled out, and began driving down to the Sneer mansion. During the ride there, Forest had fallen asleep, which Cedric was grateful for. Once he arrived, he got out of the car, and took Forest out as quietly as he could, and he shut the door as quietly as he could, too. He walked through the front gates of the mansion, and knocked on the front door. Forest stirred for a moment, woke up, and began whimpering a little. Cedric was afraid it would turn into a full scale scream when the door opened. There stood Cyril, and the minute Forest saw him, he stopped whimpering.

"What happened to you?" Cyril asked. "You've been getting enough sleep, Cedric?"

Cedric sighed. He knew how he looked. His ears were drooping slightly, his hair was disheveled, and his glasses were on lopsided. He also had bags under his eyes.

"Nobody's slept for three days," he admitted.

"That baby of yours keeping you awake?" Cyril asked.

"Ever since you told us to move out, all Forest has been doing is crying. We can't get him to stop. Anyway, I just came by to pick up some more things of mine. I brought Forest with me to see if maybe he'd stop crying if we came here."

"Well, it seems to be working."

Cedric walked into the mansion, and he and Cyril walked up the stairs to collect Cedric's things. Forest kept trying to reach for Cyril.

"What's he doing?" Cyril asked.

"I don't know," Cedric said, shrugging. "Can you take the carrier for a minute, Pop? I need to get my books."

Cyril didn't want to, but he didn't have much of a choice. He took the carrier from Cedric, and surprisingly, Forest began giggling. Cedric was pretty much amazed.

"Wow," he said.

"What?" Cyril asked.

"This is the first time since we moved out that Forest has stopped crying."

Before Cyril could respond, the Pigs ran into the room.

"Sir, we've got a problem at one of the factories!" Lloyd shouted.

"What is it?" Cyril asked, feeling frustrated over this whole thing.

"We don't know what it is," Floyd said. "But it looks like something snapped in the machinery!"

"Oh brother," Cyril groaned. "Just my luck it's the mechanic's day off!"

"I could probably go take a look at it, Pop," Cedric said. "I'll have to take Forest back to the Raccoondominium first, though. A factory is no place for him."

"There's no time!" Boyd said. "If we don't get this fixed now, the factory could go sky high!"

"And I'd lose a ton of profits," Cyril said. "Go on, Cedric. Go fix the problem. I'll handle the kid."

"Thanks, Pop!" Cedric shouted, and followed the Pigs to Cyril's factory, leaving Cyril alone with Forest.

Cyril sighed, and walked into his office to get some work done. He set the carrier on the floor, and left Forest in it.

"You'd better not mess up my work this time," he said.

Forest giggled. Cyril ignored him, and began to work. After awhile, it became unusually quiet in the office. Cyril looked down at the carrier and saw that Forest was sleeping.

"Catching up on some lost sleep, eh?" he asked. "Well, staying up for three days straight crying your head off will do that."

Forest let out a little whimper. Cyril didn't say anything. He just went back to work. He was reading through a set of business contracts, when he heard a small cough. He looked down at Forest, and heard the cough again. Forest whimpered a little, and coughed for a third time.

"All right, fine," Cyril said, taking his cigar out of his mouth. "If it bothers you that much, I'll put it out. I've got to get these contracts signed, and they have to be in by two thirty, or I lose this deal, and I can't concentrate with you coughing like that, and whimpering like that!"

Forest just whimpered. Cyril rolled his eyes, and put out his cigar. Then he got back down to business. But he found he couldn't concentrate. Forest was still whimpering, and coughing, even though Cyril had put out his cigar, and he hadn't lit another one yet. He looked at Forest and saw that the baby was looking a little flushed.

"Oh boy," he groaned. "Of all the times for you to get sick!"

Cyril sighed, and lifted Forest out of his carrier. Then he carried him into the living room, picked up the phone, and started dialing.

"Hello?" Bert answered on the other end. He sounded tired.

"Where's Sofa Girl?" Cyril asked.

"Sleeping."

"Well wake her up, and tell her to get over here!"

"Why?"

"Because the baby's sick, you idiot!"

And with that, Cyril slammed the phone down. Forest began to whimper again, but it was mostly from not feeling well. Cyril sighed, and started to walk up the stairs.

"Fortunately for you, I had to do this a lot with Cedric," he said.

Cyril walked into the bathroom, and began fumbling around in the medicine cabinet, looking for a thermometer. He knew he kept one in the medicine cabinet, but now all he had to do was find it.

"Ah ha!" he shouted once he found it. "Here it is. Now, if you're anything like Cedric was, I'm going to have to do this the easy way."

Cyril went back downstairs, and put Forest back into his carrier. He took off Forest's shirt, and stuck the thermometer under his arm.

"Cedric would put up a good fight if I tried to stick the thermometer in the other end," Cyril said. "I'm not gonna risk it this time."

After about five minutes, Cyril removed the thermometer and looked at it. Then he picked up the carrier, and brought it into the kitchen.

"Looks like I'm going to have to do for you what I did for Cedric when he was your age," he said.

Cyril found the baby bag that Cedric had brought over and fished a bottle of formula out of it. He unscrewed the top, and poured the formula down the sink. Then he washed out the bottle, and walked over to the refridgerator. He found some apple juice that Cedric had been keeping in there, and poured it into the bottle. Then he put the top back on, and carried it, and Forest upstairs to a bedroom that hadn't been used for years. Cyril sat down in an old rocking chair in the room, and proceeded to give Forest his bottle. Not having taken much out of his bottle in the last few days, Forest gladly accepted it. He closed his eyes, and sucked on his bottle contently. He was right where he wanted to be.

Once the contents of the bottle were empty, Cyril noticed that Forest had fallen asleep. He put the baby back into his carrier, and searched around the house for something else. He found the baby monitor Cedric and Sophia had bought, but had left it at the Sneer mansion (in fact, it was one of the things Cedric had come back to pick up). Cyril turned it on, left one part of it in the bedroom, and took the other with him, just in case Forest needed him while he was working. As Cyril was working, there was a loud knock on the front door.

"That had better be Sofa Girl," Cyril said, opening the door.

Unfortunately, it wasn't Sophia. It was a big business man, Arthur Badgerton, and his secretary, Fiona Foxworthy. It was his contracts that Cyril had to sign and return to him by two thirty that day, and it was already three o' clock.

"Mr. Sneer," Fiona said. "Mr. Badgerton is wondering if you still want his business with your business."

"Of course I do!" Cyril shouted.

"Well, then, where are the contracts we sent over?"

"They're in my office. I'll go get them and . . . . ."

"Do you realize what time it is, Mr. Sneer? Three o' clock. Past the deadline we gave you to look over the contracts and have them sent back to us. We took this to mean that you are no longer interested in our company's money."

"I had a little . . . . . situation here, which delayed me in signing the contracts so . . . . ."

Mr. Badgerton then motioned for Fiona to come closer to him, which she did. He whispered something in her ear. Fiona nodded, and turned to Cyril.

"What kind of situation?" she asked.

"Well . . . ." Cyril started. He didn't want to necessarily come right out and say that the situation was that his grandson was sick and he had to get him settled before he did anything.

"There was a little trouble at one of the factories," Cyril said. "According to my employees, one of the machines started falling apart. And so . . . ."

Fiona glanced at Mr. Badgerton, who was shaking his head. Fiona turned back to Cyril.

"Mr. Badgerton doesn't believe that, Mr. Sneer," she said. "You'd better come up with something better than that."

Cyril was about to say something when a cry was heard from the walkie-talkie Cyril was carrying. Both Mr. Badgerton and Fiona looked at it, and then at Cyril oddly.

"What's that?" Fiona asked.

"That?" Cyril asked, getting slightly nervous. "Oh, that's probably just my dog."

"Your dog uses a walkie-talkie to communicate?"

"It's amazing what technology can do these days?"

The cries grew louder. Cyril groaned. Of all the times for Forest to wake up! But Cyril knew he had to go upstairs and give Forest another bottle if he ever wanted to get him to go to sleep.

"If you'll excuse me for just one minute," Cyril said. "I'll get you those signed contracts. I just have to go . . . . . let my dog out."

"Well, hurry up," Fiona said. "Mr. Badgerton does not like to be kept waiting."

Cyril made a mad dash for his office, and grabbed the contracts. Then he ran into the kitchen and filled the baby bottle with apple juice. Then he ran to the hall, and practically threw the contracts at Fiona and Mr. Badgerton.

"There you go," he said. "Signed, sealed, and delievered. Now if you'll excuse me . . . ."

"Mr. Sneer, what in the world are you doing with that baby bottle?" Fiona asked.

"This?" Cyril asked. "Well . . . ."

Cyril's explanation was interupted by an extremely loud wail, that in no possible way could have come from a dog. Cyril didn't even bother with an explanation this time. He just ran up the stairs before anything else could happen. Mr. Badgerton whispered something to Fiona, and she nodded, and the two of them followed Cyril.

Cyril walked into the other room, and lifted Forest out of his carrier, and sat down in the rocking chair.

"All right, all right," he said, giving Forest the bottle. "I heard you the first time. Just hurry up, and finish your bottle so you can go back to sleep and I can close a business deal."

"Mr. Sneer, what in the world is that?" Fiona asked, pointing at Forest.

"This?" Cyril asked. "Well, he's . . . . he's, uhhh . . . . ."

"Is that your grandson?" Fiona asked. "Mr. Badgerton read something in the paper about you having a grandson, but we thought it was a rumor."

"Yes, well, this is him. This is my grandson . . . . . uhhh . . . . . Forest! That's it, Forest."

Cyril abruptly removed the bottle, and Forest began whimpering again. Cyril quickly put it back, and Forest was once again happily sucking on it. Mr. Badgerton and Fiona just watched. They weren't quite sure what to make of this.

"Mr. Sneer!" a voice called from downstairs. "Where are you?"

"Excuse me," Cyril said. He stood up, and walked over to the door. "Upstairs! Hurry up and get up here!"

Within a few minutes, footsteps were heard running up the stairs, and Sophia ran into the room and took Forest from Cyril. Forest began to cry a little.

"Oh Forest!" Sophia shouted. "Shh, it's all right, sweetie. It's okay. Mommy's here now."

Forest whimpered a bit, coughed, and leaned against Sophia's shoulder. He started sucking his thumb. Sophia sat down in the rocking chair, and started rocking Forest to sleep.

"Forest has a little cold," Cyril explained. "Cedric used to catch them a lot when he was Forest's age."

"Like father, like son," Sophia replied. "I'd better get him a bottle."

"I already did that," Cyril said. "In fact, that's what I was doing instead of signing the contracts."

"And you didn't tell us that because . . . . ." Fiona said, trying to figure out why in the world Cyril was trying to hide the fact that he had a sick grandson to take care of.

"I have a reputation for being a tough business man," Cyril said. "I can't let anything like my grandson ruin it."

"Mr. Sneer, you should know that Mr. Badgerton is a big family man," Fiona said. "He feels he can only do business with people who take care of their families."

"He does?" both Cyril and Sophia said in unison.

Mr. Badgerton whispered something in Fiona's ear. She nodded, and turned to Cyril.

"And he likes what he sees here," she said. "Mr. Badgerton is going to accept the contracts, even though they're late. Good day to you, Mr. Sneer."

And with that, Mr. Badgerton and Fiona left. As they were leaving, Cedric and the Pigs were returning from the factory. All four of them were covered in soot, dust, dirt, and grease.

"What's going on?" Cedric asked.

"What happened to you?" Sophia asked, looking at Cedric oddly.

"There was a problem in the pipes at one of Pop's factories," Cedric said. "We got it fixed, though. What are you doing here, Sophia?"

"Your father called, and said that Forest was sick," Sophia said.

"Yeah, and what took you so long, Sofa Girl?" Cyril asked.

"Cedric had the car," Sophia said, with a shrug. "Well, thanks for taking care of Forest, Mr. Sneer. I guess we'll be going now."

"Yeah, see you around, Pop," Cedric said. "I'll come back another time for the rest of our things."

And with that, Cedric and Sophia went down the stairs. Forest woke up on the trip down, and began crying again.

"There he goes again," Cedric said.

"Your father said he has a cold," Sophia said, jiggling Forest slightly. "That's probably why he was crying so much."

"Yeah, that has to be it."

Cyril watched them leave. He looked directly at Forest, who seemed to be trying to reach his grandfather, wanting him to come along. The minute Cedric and Sophia were gone, Cyril ran into his office, grabbed the phone and began dialing.

"Get your men together and go to the Raccoondominium," he demanded. "You know what belongs to Cedric there. Get the truck and load it with his things, along with Sofa Girl's. And make sure Cedric and Sofa Girl follow you, and make sure they have the baby."


	6. Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

By the time Cedric and Sophia had gotten back to the Raccoondomimum, they saw a bunch of bears loading their things into a large moving van.

"What's going on?" Sophia asked.

"I don't know," Melissa said. "They showed up about ten minutes ago and started loading your things into the truck."

"We had nothing to do with it," Bert said. "Even if Forest was driving us up the wall."

Melissa nudged Bert in the stomach for that remark. One of the bears walked over to Cedric and Sophia.

"We're almost done loading," he growled. "When we get finished, follow us."

Cedric and Sophia looked at each other oddly, and went back to their car. The bears finished loading up, and drove off in the truck. Cedric started his car, and followed the truck down to the Sneer mansion. The moving truck went through the front gates and stopped. Cedric and Sophia were beyond confused. Especially when Cyril came out the front door and started directing traffic.

"All right, hurry up and get everything back in here," he said. "And don't damage anything or you're fired!"

"Pop, what's going on?" Cedric asked, as he and Sophia climbed out of the car.

"You're moving back in," Cyril said. "Forest saved me a million dollar business merge."

Forest laughed, and reached out for Cyril. This time, Cyril gladly accepted his grandson. He didn't even mind when Forest began pulling on his nose. Well, not too much, anyway.

"So, are you going to move back in or not?" Cyril asked, as he took Forest inside.

Cedric and Sophia laughed, and they followed Cyril into the mansion. The bears finished bringing everything inside the mansion and set it all up where Cyril wanted it. Cedric made a phone call to the Raccoondominium.

"Pop told us to move back in," he said.

"I'm never gonna understand your dad, Cedric," Bert said. "One minute he kicks you out, and the next, he wants you to move back in . . . ."

"He said that Forest saved a million dollar merge or something. I don't know much about it, either. But Forest seems happy about the fact that we moved back home."

"He's not crying anymore?"

"Nope. Well, except maybe his routine cries, but he's not crying twenty-four hours a day."

A couple of weeks went by. Melissa came over to the Sneer mansion with her camera to get a photo for the Evergreen Standard. This time, she wanted all four Sneers in the shot. Cyril only agreed to it if Sophia was going to hold the baby. He didn't want any more photos of him and Forest, where Forest was pulling on his nose.

"Okay, everybody," Melissa said. "Smile!"

Melissa snapped the picture, and it was perfect. Once she was done with the photo, Forest gurgled and reached for Cyril.

"Oh all right," Cyril said, taking Forest. "I'm starting to get used to this little ankle biter anyway."

Forest giggled, and took a playful swat at Cyril's nose, but he didn't yank on it this time. Instead, he yawned, stuck his thumb in his mouth, and fell asleep.

"Awwwww," Sophia, Cedric, and Melissa said in unison.

"I think this calls for one more picture," Melissa said. She held up the camera, and snapped the shot of the Evergreen Forest's biggest tycoon and grandson that she was looking for the first day she tried to take that picture.

"Perfect," she said.

"Well, we'd better go put Forest in his crib," Sophia said, as she tried to take the baby from Cyril.

"No, no, I'll handle it," Cyril replied. "I've already got him anyway."

"You sure, Pop?" Cedric asked.

"What, don't you two think I'm capable of putting the baby to bed? I'm an expert at it!"

"Okay, Pop, if you insist."

"As a matter of fact, I do insist!"

And with that, Cyril went upstairs to the nursery. He put Forest into his crib and looked at him. Forest yawned a little, woke up, and giggled. He swatted at Cyril's nose again.

"You know something, Forest?" he asked. "You're not such a bad little guy after all."

Forest giggled, and yawned again. Cyril turned on his mobile, pulled the shades down, and started to leave the room.

"Goodnight, Forest," he said.

The End


End file.
